


Be Our Gust

by ladyc2



Category: KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kanjani8 as mad scientists, M/M, Mad Scientists, Magical World, Weather machine gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 08:52:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19787491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyc2/pseuds/ladyc2
Summary: During a very unusual weather event, Top Idol Kamenashi Kazuya takes refuge in Nakamaru’s Magic shop.





	Be Our Gust

**Author's Note:**

> The amazing DehYuki has drawn the first part of this fic as a doujinshi and posted it on twitter. Please go and check it out and give them some love/tell them how wonderful their drawings are:
> 
> Part 1 - https://twitter.com/YukiDeh/status/1264329869938302976
> 
> Part 2 - https://twitter.com/YukiDeh/status/1264330539328253958

[ _Interior shot. News studio._ ]

 _Sho:_ …urging residents to stay indoors until further notice. We cross now to our reporter in Osaka.

[ _cut to a reporter standing outside a building with a large ∞ symbol on side._ ]

 _Koyama:_ Good morning. I’m standing outside Kanjani Labs, where we’ve just received word from the director of the Lab, one Murakami Shingo, that a press conference will be held within the hour to explain what has occurred.

[ _cut back to the studio._ ]

 _Sho:_ Koyama-san, have they mentioned anything further on what effects we might exp-

Nakamaru grabbed the remote and turned the TV off rather more forcefully than he needed to. At the kitchen counter, where he was shovelling food into his mouth at a rate that often made Nakamaru wonder how he didn’t choke to death, Ueda looked up and frowned.

“Hey, I was watching that.”

“For the last two hours. And they haven’t said anything useful in all that time.” Nakamaru pointed out.

Ueda waved his chopsticks at the TV. “They’re about to have a press conference.”

Nakamaru harrumphed. “In which they’ll say nothing. I bet _they_ don’t even know what’s going on. That’s what happens when you-“

“Fine, fine,” Ueda interrupted. “I’ll find something else to do.” He got up from the counter to put his dishes away. Nakamaru didn’t miss him mutter to himself, “anything to avoid another lecture.”

Nakamaru took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Ranting at Ueda was rather counterproductive. It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard it a hundred times already. Nakamaru had been spouting off about Kanjani Labs and their new “Weather Machine” for months now. The fact that he’d been vindicated in his viewpoint didn’t really make him feel better though.

“If you want something to do, you could go downstairs and make sure all the stocks are secure,” he suggested instead. It would keep Ueda out of his hair.

Ueda seemed to disagree. “Why?” He practically whined. “No-one’s going to come in today. You said yourself there was no point opening up.”

“Because we don’t know what’s going to happen today: Thunderstorms, Powerful Gales,, Typhoons springing up out of nowhere. The least we should do is batten down the hatches. Some of those potions downstairs could be quite incendiary if they were to smash and mix together.”

“Okay, but why me?” 

“Anytime you want to start paying rent, or the electricity bill, or the-”

“Right away, boss.” Ueda was suddenly much more agreeable. “At least I can watch the TV downstairs while I work.”

Nakamaru wandered over to the window. It looked like the wind was picking up and clouds were rolling in. Not a good sign. He whispered a safety spell under his breath as he watched. It was small and not very powerful but hopefully it would keep him and Ueda from harm on this day.

The sound of footsteps coming back up the stairs had Nakamaru turning around. He couldn't possibly have had time to do anything. 

“That was quick.” 

Ueda practically bounced on his feet. “Actually, there’s a customer.”

“Well send them home.” As much as he hated to lose the business, he couldn’t in good conscience let someone run around the city with who knows what about to happen.

Ueda shook his head. “You’re not going to want this one to go away.”

“Ueda. We’re in the middle of a potentially catastrophic weather event.” _Did no-one understand the seriousness of what could happen today_?

Ueda, of course, ignored him. “Who’s your favourite actor?”

“Watanabe Ken.” _What did this have to do with anything?_

Ueda rolled his eyes. “Okay, make that the actor you spend far too much time drooling over whenever he’s on screen.” 

Nakamaru was offended. He did not go about drooling over actors. He didn't, however, see what was wrong with appreciating their form. Well, there was one in particular who had a very nice form, but there wasn’t any chance he’d be in his store. He didn’t know what ridiculous game Ueda was trying to pull, but he wasn’t falling for it. Two could play at this game. Keeping his face as neutral as he could he replied,

“Matsumoto Jun.” 

At the expression on Ueda’s face, Nakamaru couldn’t keep it in. It was almost too much fun to mess with the other man sometimes, and fully deserved when he was doing the same thing.

Ueda narrowed his eyes briefly, before affecting a disenchanted air. “Be that way. I guess I’ll just go and deal with Kamenashi myself.”

Ueda turned to go and Nakamaru found himself stepping away from the window, his hand outstretched as if to stop the other man from leaving.

“Wait."

When the other turned back to look at him, he continued. "He’s really down there?”

Ueda nodded.

“All right, let’s go down.” Even if it wasn't who Ueda said it was, there was probably still someone down there, and if there wasn't then he could set Ueda some suitably unpleasant task for the day. 

At the bottom of the stairs, he paused.

“If this is a trick.” he warned. 

He slowly pushed open the door and went through. There was a man in the store, his back turned away from where Nakamaru and Ueda entered, perusing the shelves. Even if Ueda hadn't had him half expecting it, he'd know that form anywhere - the tight white t-shirt he was wearing accentuating his broad shoulders that curved down into his tinier waist, the way his tight jeans hugged his hips and bot - Nakamaru halted his eyelines trajectory and shook his head. _What was he doing?_ He shouldn't be ogling his customers.

Nakamaru cleared his throat and Kamenashi turned. Nakamaru's breath caught in his throat. It was one thing to see such … _hotness_ , on the screen, but up close and personal was quite another. Kamenashi was having no such problems on his end; he rushed up until he was close enough that Nakamaru could breathe in his scent - he smelled just as good as everyone always said he did. 

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but I really need your help.”

“This is Nakamaru Yuichi,” Ueda introduced him. “He’ll be able to help you out for sure. With anything.”

That last part sounded like innuendo to Nakamaru’s ears and if Ueda hadn’t been standing out of reach, Nakamaru would have elbowed him. Instead he tried to put on his most professional expression - he wasn't entirely sure he succeeded.

“How can we help you?”

Kamenashi grabbed his hand. “I need something to break a curse.”

Nakamaru could only stare at his own hand, now nestled within Kamenashi's, the warmth radiating out and seeming to envelope his whole body. It took him a moment to notice what Kamenashi had actually said. He blinked in surprise. _A curse? Who would want to curse Kamenashi Kazuya?_

“What sort of a curse?” Ueda asked.

Nakamaru pulled his hand out of Kamenashi's grip - he needed to be professional and his hand in the other's was making it hard to concentrate. It should have been him asking that question and not Ueda.

Kamenashi frowned. “I don’t know yet. I was hoping you had something that could prevent it before it starts.”

“Counteracting a curse before it’s been cast is very tricky, even if you know the specific spell they’ll be using.” Which from the sounds of it, Kamenashi didn’t. Nakamaru needed a lot more information. “What makes you think someone’s planning on cursing you?”

In response, Kamenashi rummaged through his bag for a moment then slapped a newspaper down on the counter. Nakamaru looked down at it. It was opened at the entertainment section and there was a full page spread on Kamenashi’s new drama. Nakamaru had actually been looking forward to the drama – it was reunion between Kamenashi and Yamashita Tomohisa on the anniversary of their very popular drama from 10 years ago.

Nakamaru looked up from the paper. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“He hates me.” Kamenashi stabbed his finger at the paper. “When we did Nobuta, he cursed me so badly that my next few drama’s all tanked in the ratings.”

“Are you sure that was all a curse?” Ueda butted in. When two sets of eyes turned to him, he shrugged. “I’m just saying – that wine drama.” 

Kamenashi narrowed his eyes. Ueda's eyes widened in fear and he grinned sheepishly. “I’ll be, over there,” he stuttered, pointing at some shelves on the other side of the store.

Kamenashi turned back looking resigned. “It’s not just the dramas. Whenever we appear on variety shows or things together, he has some evil spell up his sleeve.”

“Maybe you could write down a list of all the spells and curses he’s put on you and we can look for a pattern.” That might make it easier to devise a protection spell.

Kamenashi shook his head. “I can’t. I’m supposed to be at the studio,” Kamenashi looked down at his watch. 

Nakamaru smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "It doesn't have to be right now. It wouldn't make sense to curse you until after, or at least, very near the end of filming. Unless he wanted to ruin his own career, too.'

"I guess," Kamenashi muttered. 

“I don’t think you want to go out there - it’s just started raining.” Ueda called out. He paused for effect, before adding. “Fruit.”

Nakamaru frowned, then he remembered - Kanjani Labs malfunctioning weather machine. Still, all things considered, raining fruit was, while unusual, perhaps a smaller toll than they could have hoped for. “That doesn’t sound so bad.” he called back.

“Tell that to the guy who nearly got taken out by a watermelon.”

Kamenashi raced over to the window to stare out with Ueda.

\---

Nakamaru stared down at the paper. After watching the fruit rain for a few minutes, Kamenashi had called his manager and proceeded to have an argument about whether he could get in to work or not. From what he could hear of the conversation the argument only ended when someone above the both of them officially cancelled filming for the day.

Kamenashi had then asked for a piece of paper and pen and proceeded to write out the list Nakamaru had asked for. 

Nakamaru focussed on the words. Most of the spells or curses seemed rather petty. Almost like he was trying to-. Ueda plucked the piece of paper from his hand, perusing it for a few moments before snorting in amusement and handing it back.

“Maybe you’re looking at it all wrong," he said, echoing Nakamaru's thought track. "What if he likes you?”

Kamenashi looked confused. “Then why is he cursing me?”

“To get your attention,” Ueda said bluntly.

“Isn’t that a little 5th grade?”

Ueda shrugged.

"Do you think that too?" Kamenashi asked him.

"It does seem like a likely possibility," Nakamaru admitted.

Kamenashi pointed at a line on the list. "But this one was downright malicious," he argued. 

Nakamaru looked at the item. "He made your hair go green?" It didn't sound that malicious.

"I'm an actor. My hair is my life. I had to hide it under a beanie, or worse wear a wig for a month until it wore off." Kamenashi pouted. "Plus I was this close to getting signed for a shampoo commercial."

"Be that as it may, this is actually a good thing." When Kamenashi frowned at him, Nakamaru hastened to add, "Counteracting these sorts of curses is a lot easier than the really bad stuff."

"Really?" Kamenashi perked up. "So you can help?"

Nakamaru nodded and was rewarded with a beautiful smile. He cleared his throat, "Yes, well I'll get started."

\---

Despite his assurances to Kamenashi, Nakamaru spent the next half an hour carefully going through his shelves for just the right ingredients. Should he go for a more all-encompassing spell which would cover everything, albeit slightly less effectively, or should he count on Yamashita being predictable and only accounting for certain more likely outcomes. 

“Hey, check out the TV. It’s snowing glitter in Hokkaido.” Ueda's voice filtered through the shelves and Nakamaru poked his head out to look over to the tv, where sure enough the news was showing a landscape with silver and gold glitter sprinkling out of the sky and lightly covering everything in sparkly dust.

Nakamaru looked over towards Kamenashi who was staring at the screen, rapt. 

“I wish I could see it for real," he murmured. "I bet it’s pretty.”

“Not as pretty as the view here,” Ueda whispered, suddenly at Nakamaru's elbow and nodding pointedly in Kamenashi’s direction. Nakamaru felt himself blush but couldn't disagree with Ueda's assessment. He forced himself back to the shelves. Just because their current guest was enchanted by the situation, didn't mean he should soften his own stance on the events happening outside (even if a small part of him really wanted to). Pretty did not equal good, he told himself sternly.

"It would be rather a pain to clean up," he muttered.

Kamenashi must have heard him, for he hopped off the stool he'd been sitting on and wandered over. “You’re not interested in what’s happening?” he asked curiously.

Ueda groaned. “Don’t get him started.”

“Eh?”

“Science and Magic don’t mix. Blah, blah, blah.”

“He might have heard that rant a few too many times," Nakamaru admitted reluctantly.

“You don’t like science?”

Nakamaru shook his head. “On the contrary, I love science. But Science is Science and Magic is Magic."

“And never the twain shall meet,” Kamenashi finished for him.

“Exactly!” Finally someone got it. “Science works on Laws and the real world. Magic is much more ephemeral and relies on the spirit world. Those idiots in Osaka should be leaving well enough alone." Despite himself Nakamaru felt his ire building up again.

“But Kanjani Labs has had great success up until now,” Kamenashi countered.

“They’ve been lucky until now.” Nakamaru corrected. "Besides the weather is the worst thing they could mess with. This could have global consequences." He wondered if the Magic Council had managed to find a way to contain the disaster so it at least only affected Japan. 

Nakamaru turned to look at Kamenashi, who was, strangely, grinning broadly at him - almost like he was going to laugh. He was used to that kind of attitude from Ueda, but coming from Kamenashi it felt different, upsetting. 

“You think it’s funny?” he accused.

“No." Kamenashi shook his head but he was still smiling, "but it’s cute that you’re so passionate about it.”

Cute. That threw Nakamaru for a second and he forgot all about being angry. Instead his cheeks felt flushed and he could have sworn he heard his heartbeat loudly thumping in his chest.

"Well, um, I have all the, um, ingredients now, so I should, um," he gestured vaguely to the back of the shop. He picked up the box and scurried behind the counter and into the back room. 

\---

Away from Kamenashi's, so much more irresistible in person grin, and warm but intense stare, Nakamaru calmed down. Here in his lab he felt much more composed. He settled down to work, deciding on the more all-encompassing spell. As was usual when he was mixing potions, he got lost in the work and it wasn't until Ueda wandered in, that he broke out of his concentration. He looked up at the clock on the wall - it had been just over an hour since he come back here.

"How's the fruit rain?" he asked as he batted Ueda's hands away from where they were about to poke at some of the more sensitive ingredients

"Boring." he whined. "It's mostly just cherries now."

"Magic Council?"

Ueda nodded. He whirled away and plonked himself down on a chair, before seemingly remembering something and perking up a bit. "A rainbow solidified in Fukuoka though."

"Solidified?" Nakamaru asked surprised. "What's it made of?"

This time Ueda shrugged. "They think it's just coloured bricks, but they're waiting for the engineers to check it out to make sure it won't fall down."

"Ah," Nakamaru hummed. A sensible plan.

Ueda was up and pacing again.

“The bigger question is - what are you doing back here?”

Nakamaru thought that was obvious. “Working on a counter-curse for Kamenashi.”

“And you can’t work on that out there?" Ueda sounded incredulous. "He was flirting with you.”

“He wasn’t flirting,” Nakamaru dismissed. “Superstars aren’t interested in ordinary folk.”

Ueda looked incredulous. “Are you kidding me? That’s exactly what they’re interested in. After all the weird celebrity shit they have to put up with, normal and boring is what they crave. It’s a total turn on for them.”

“As if you’d know.”

"Seeing as I don't spend all my time around dusty spell books and foul smelling potions, yeah, I'd say I know more than you."

Despite his harsh words, Nakamaru could hear the underlying concern in his friend's words. Besides, he could be snarky too.

"Punching people in a boxing ring all day doesn't make you more of a people person," he grumbled back.

Ueda laughed. "Sure it does."

"I'll be finished soon and then I can come back out."

"You're missing out dude. I'm might just put the moves on him myself at this rate."

Nakamaru threw a pouch of herbs at the other. Ueda just laughed as he ducked out of the way and out the door. The pouch hit the wall with a soft puff, some herbs flying out in all directions. Nakamaru sighed, before going to get the dustpan.

\---

With Kamenashi's potion bubbling away nicely on burner, Nakamaru got to cleaning up. He was washing his hands when Kamenashi walked into his domain. His eyes widened at the sight of Nakamaru.

"Is all that foam for my countercurse?"

Nakamaru looked at his hands and then back up a Kamenashi. "No, I'm just washing my hands."

"Oh." He looked around in what seemed to Nakamaru like affected curiosity.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked as he towelled his hands dry. 

Kamenashi held up a small brown vial and Nakamaru stepped closer to look at it. “I was browsing your shelves and I found this love potion. Do they really work?" 

Nakamaru snatched the bottle, more forcefully than he intended, off a surprised Kamenashi. He hated the stuff and wouldn't have it in his shop at all, except for the fact that 'Ninomiya's All Occasions Magic Emporium' down the road was stocked to the gills with the stuff and was therefore much more popular than his own little store. He found that if he had a few bottles on hand, he could draw in a least a few customers and once they were in the store he could talk them around into trying other methods to win their love.

"It's very dark magic, you should be careful with that." He groused.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to...." 

Nakamaru interrupted. "No, I'm sorry, it's a touchy subject."

Kamenashi nodded in understanding, though Nakamaru thought he still looked put out. "I should let you get back to it, then."

Nakamaru sighed. Great, now he'd chased away Kamenashi. So much for maybe attempted flirting later - he'd be lucky if Kame even stuck around long enough for that. 

Kamenashi paused at the door, looking back at Nakamaru, the smile returned to his face, in fact it looked kind of smug. 

“Ueda was wrong though,” he said.

"Huh?" Nakamaru was confused.

"I wasn't trying to listen in, but I overheard you two earlier." Kamenashi at least had the grace to look sheepish about his unintentional eavesdropping. Still Nakamaru felt ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised. “Ueda gets strange ideas in his head sometimes. I don’t take him seriously, so no worries. I know you weren’t flirting.”

“Oh, he wasn’t wrong about that part. I was flirting.”

Nakamaru looked up, his shock probably written all over his features. “Oh.”

“He was wrong about me only being interested because you’re normal and boring.” Kamenashi clarified. “I don’t think you’re normal or boring at all.”

"You don't?"

Kamenashi shook his head. "You're smart, funny," he paused, "Hot."

Nakamaru felt himself blush at Kamenashi's words.

"Your not so bad yourself," he replied and then winced. _How corny could you get?_ Kamenashi stepped - no more like slinked, Nakamaru thought as he was riveted by the way Kamenashi's hips swayed - closer. He dragged his eyes back up to Kamenashi's face, which was now centimeters from his own and getting closer by the millisecond. 

"Well then I guess we're in agreement." His voice was just the right amount of husky and it sent shivers all the way down. Nakamaru gulped and began to lean forward, his eyes closing as he anticipated their lips meeting.

_Bang!_

Nakamaru jolted, his eyes snapped open and his head narrowly missed colliding with Kamenashi's, as the noise of the door slamming open, broke the moment. 

"I'm hungry!!!" Ueda's voice whined and Nakamaru for once finally understood Ueda's desire to punch people in the face.

Nakamaru snuck a glance at Kamenashi, who had moved about as far as you could away from where Nakamaru was standing, although his expression seemed amused more than anything. 

Ueda finally seemed to pick up the mood in the room. "What?" he asked.

Nakamaru just sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Never mind."

\---

They retired up to Nakamaru's apartment to have some lunch. Ueda immediately flicked on the TV, which seemed to be wrapping up a report on the solid rainbow. It cut back to the studio.

_Sho:_ And just a reminder that authorities are asking people not to ignore the barricades and dig around the rainbow. We now go to Gifu prefecture where a new phenomenon seems to be underway.

[ _cut to a scene of a misty forest. Reporter Kato Shigeaki standing close to the trees_ ]

 _Shige:_ We're here at Mount Hotaka, near Takayama, where fog seems to have coalesced into what appears to be web-like tendrils throughout this mountain forest.

Nakamaru shuddered, he hoped there was no spiders to go with those webs. Back in the news studio, Sakurai Sho seemed to have the same opinion

_Sho:_ Hopefully _only_ the webs have appeared.

[ _He and the co-host chuckled nervously at the thought_ ]

Nakamaru tuned them out as he checked his fridge for ingredients. As he finished lining everything up on the counter, Kamenashi once again was at his side. 

"Need a hand?" he offered. "I'm a pretty good cook."

"I know," Nakamaru answered thoughtlessly as he handed Kamenashi some vegetables and a knife for chopping.

"You do?" Kamenashi asked as he got to work.

"I've seen you cooking on TV." 

"Really?" Kamenashi's grin seemed to suggest he got exactly why Nakamaru had been watching him on TV. 

Nakamaru thought about defending himself and his choices, but the truth was the truth, so he just kept his mouth shut and tried to concentrate on the food and not on the, ridiculously attractive and knows it, man next to him. 

Lunch was ready quickly and they all settled in at the table to eat. It was a nice atmosphere, even with the cherries that occasionally splattering against the window. Nakamaru found he wasn't even thinking about how horrible it was going to be to clean up that mess, much. Instead, he, Ueda and Kamenashi fell into an easy rapport - Kamenashi told hilarious stories about on set antics and Nakamaru and Ueda shared crazy spells that people had requested. Nakamaru felt comfortable in a way that he hadn't for a long time - like it all fit. He hoped Kamenashi felt it too, and that he'd come back once this business was over.

Occasionally they would look up at the TV to see what was happening. It looked like the magical weather was finally starting to die down. One of the news reports showed the current Minister of the Magic Council himself, Taichi Kokubun, standing in front of what could only be the Kanjani Labs scientists - their multicoloured lab coats making them stand out - with their heads bowed in apology as the minister talked.

\---

After lunch, Nakamaru and Kamenashi went back downstairs to check on Kamenashi's counter-curse potion. It should be just about ready. Ueda volunteered to stay upstairs and clean up. Nakamaru appreciated the gesture, though he doubted how much cleaning would actually get done.

Sure enough the potion had turned purple, indicating it was ready. Nakamaru grabbed a bottle off the shelf and carefully poured the potion into it. He handed it to Kamenashi.

"A teaspoon a day until the drama is over, should keep you protected."

Kamenashi took the bottle carefully, opened the lid and sniffed it, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "Got it. A teaspoon."

Nakamaru nodded. They both stood awkwardly not quite sure what to say next. Kamenashi's phone ringing broke the silence and he moved off to answer it.

"Anything wrong?" Nakamaru asked when the phone call was over. 

"Looks like now the weather is getting back to normal, shooting is back on," he answered.

"Oh," Nakamaru said. That made sense. It was probably costing them a lot of money to hold up filming for the day. Of course the downside of that was that his encounter with Kamenashi was coming to an end.

"Well I should probably be going." Kamenashi stated, and if it sounded almost reluctant to Nakamaru's ears, well he could allow himself that small fantasy. "Drama to film, curses to avoid." He headed towards the door. 

“So, uh,” Nakamaru faltered as Kamenashi turned back to face him. “Let us know how the cursing goes.” _Wait, did that sound right?_ Maybe Kamenashi was now thinking that he wanted him cursed. 

Kamenashi however, grinned. “Buy me dinner and I’ll tell you all about it,” he offered.

Nakamaru could only nod.

“My number's on the card,” Kamenashi shouted as he exited through the door.

Nakamaru looked down at the card placed on the table. He picked it up. He hadn't even noticed Kamenashi put it down. He pocketed it carefully and then headed for the stairs to see what help Ueda needed cleaning up.


End file.
